scholarly journals Weak impedance difference approximations of thin-bed PP-wave reflection responses

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1010-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Yang ◽  
Yun Wang ◽  
Jun Lu
Geophysics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-101
Author(s):  
Kun Li ◽  
Xingyao Yin ◽  
Zhaoyun Zong ◽  
Dario Grana

The estimation of petrophysical and fluid-filling properties of subsurface reservoirs from seismic data is a crucial component of reservoir characterization. Seismic amplitude variation with offset (AVO) inversion driven by rock physics is an effective approach to characterize reservoir properties. Generally, PP-wave reflection coefficients, elastic moduli and petrophysical parameters are nonlinearly coupled, especially in the multiple type pore-space reservoirs, which makes seismic AVO petrophysics inversion ill-posed. We propose a new approach that combines Biot-Gassmann’s poro-elasticity theory with Russell’s linear AVO approximation, to estimate the reservoir properties including elastic moduli and petrophysical parameters based on multi-trace probabilistic AVO inversion algorithm. We first derive a novel PP-wave reflection coefficient formulation in terms of porosity, stiff-pore volume fraction, rock matrix shear modulus, and fluid bulk modulus to incorporate the effect of pore structures on elastic moduli by considering the soft and stiff pores with different aspect ratios in sandstone reservoirs. Through the analysis of the four types of PP-wave reflection coefficients, the approximation accuracy and inversion feasibility of the derived formulation are verified. The proposed stochastic inversion method aims to predict the posterior probability density function in a Bayesian setting according to a prior Laplace distribution with vertical correlation and prior Gaussian distribution with lateral correlation of model parameters. A Metropolis-Hastings stochastic sampling algorithm with multiple Markov chains is developed to simulate the posterior models of porosity, stiff-pore volume fraction, rock-matrix shear modulus, and fluid bulk modulus from seismic AVO gathers. The applicability and validity of the proposed inversion method is illustrated with synthetic examples and a real data application.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. T613-T625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qizhen Du ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Xianjun Meng ◽  
Chengfeng Guo ◽  
Gang Chen ◽  
...  

Three-term amplitude-variation with offset (AVO) inversion generally suffers from instability when there is limited prior geologic or petrophysical constraints. Two-term AVO inversion shows higher instability compared with three-term AVO inversion. However, density, which is important in the fluid-type estimation, cannot be recovered from two-term AVO inversion. To reliably predict the P- and S-waves and density, we have developed a robust two-step joint PP- and PS-wave three-term AVO-inversion method. Our inversion workflow consists of two steps. The first step is to estimate the P- and S-wave reflectivities using Stewart’s joint two-term PP- and PS-AVO inversion. The second step is to treat the P-wave reflectivity obtained from the first step as the prior constraint to remove the P-wave velocity related-term from the three-term Aki-Richards PP-wave approximated reflection coefficient equation, and then the reduced PP-wave reflection coefficient equation is combined with the PS-wave reflection coefficient equation to estimate the S-wave and density reflectivities. We determined the effectiveness of our method by first applying it to synthetic models and then to field data. We also analyzed the condition number of the coefficient matrix to illustrate the stability of the proposed method. The estimated results using proposed method are superior to those obtained from three-term AVO inversion.


Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. C145-C161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqin Cui ◽  
Edward S. Krebes ◽  
Laurence R. Lines

Amplitude variation with offset (AVO) inversion attempts to use the available surface seismic data to estimate the density, P-wave velocity, and S-wave velocity of the earth model. Under linear slip interface theory, synthetic seismograms for models with fractures prove that fractures are also reflection generators. Consequently, observed reflections are not necessarily due to lithologic variations only, but they could be due in part to the effect of fractures. To obtain approximate equations for AVO inversion for fractured media, denoted by AVO with fracture (AVOF), we derived new equations for PP-wave reflection and transmission coefficients that are based on nonwelded contact boundary conditions. In particular, along with the fracture compliances, azimuth has also been taken into account in the equations because the fractures can have any orientation. The new approximate AVOF equations for a horizontally fractured medium with impedance contrast are developed by simplifying the equations for the new PP-wave reflection and transmission coefficients. In the new approximate AVOF equations, the reflection coefficients are divided into a welded contact part (a conventional impedance contrast part) and a nonwelded contact part (a fracture part). This makes the equations flexible enough to separately invert for the rock properties of the fracture and the background medium in the case of a fractured medium with impedance contrast. The new approximate AVOF equations state that fractures could cause the seismic reflectivity to be frequency dependent, and that the fractures not only influence the wave amplitude but also change the wave phase. The linear least-squares and nonlinear conjugate gradient inversion algorithms are applied to estimate the elastic reflectivity using the new approximate AVOF equations. The inverted results for seismic data for a horizontally fractured medium with impedance contrast are evaluated to find a more accurate delineation of the subsurface rock properties.


Geophysics ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. C37-C48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Chichinina ◽  
Vladimir Sabinin ◽  
Gerardo Ronquillo-Jarillo

This paper investigates [Formula: see text]-anisotropy for characterizing fractured reservoirs — specifically, the variation of the seismic quality factor [Formula: see text] versus offset and azimuth (QVOA). We derive an analytical expression for P-wave attenuation in a transversely isotropic medium with horizontal symmetry axis (HTI) and provide a method (QVOA) for estimating fracture direction from azimuthally varying [Formula: see text] in PP-wave reflection data. The QVOA formula is similar to Rüger’s approximation for PP-wave reflection coefficients, the theoretical basis for amplitude variation with angle offset (AVOA) analysis. The technique for QVOA analysis is similar to azimuthal AVO analysis. We introduce two new seismic attributes: [Formula: see text] versus offset (QVO) gradient and intercept. QVO gradient inversion not only indicates fracture orientation but also characterizes [Formula: see text]-anisotropy. We relate the [Formula: see text]-anisotropy parameter [Formula: see text] to fractured-medium parameters and invert the QVO gradient to estimate [Formula: see text]. The attenuation parameter [Formula: see text] and Thomsen-style anisotropy parameter [Formula: see text] are found to be interdependent. The attenuation anisotropy magnitude strongly depends on the host rock’s [Formula: see text] parameter, whereas the dependence on fracture parameters is weak. This complicates the QVO gradient inversion for the fracture parameters. This result is independent of the attenuation mechanism. To illustrate the QVOA method in synthetic data, we use Hudson’s first-order effective-medium model of a dissipative fractured reservoir with fluid flow between aligned cracks and random pores as a possible mechanism for P-wave attenuation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 354-361
Author(s):  
Ruslan K. Bekrenev ◽  
Geser A. Dugarov ◽  
Tatyana V. Nefedkina

In the paper, we study an optimization algorithm for a nonlinear AVAZ inversion of PP reflections from an anisotropic media. The algorithm is based on the exact formulas for PP wave reflection coefficient for an anisotropic HTI medium and could be applied in the case of strong-contrast boundary and various anisotropy degree. Algorithm testing on synthetic dataset for radial survey system shows that estimation of anisotropy parameters γ , δ and HTI medium symmetry axis is robust in the case of signal to noise ratio ≥ 5. For estimation of parameter ε far offset data is needed.


Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. C199-C214
Author(s):  
Guangzhi Zhang ◽  
Lin Li ◽  
Xinpeng Pan ◽  
Hengxin Li ◽  
Junzhou Liu ◽  
...  

Horizontally and vertically aligned fractures (joints) permeated in an isotropic background can give rise to a long-wavelength equivalent orthorhombic medium, which is common for naturally fractured reservoirs. We have developed a feasible approach to characterize the horizontal and vertical fractures using observed azimuthal seismic reflection data. For weak anisotropy, we assume that the horizontal and vertical fractures are decoupled. Using a linear-slip orthorhombic model, we first obtain analytic expressions for the effective elastic stiffness matrix and the corresponding perturbed matrix of an effective orthorhombic anisotropic elastic medium. Combining the scattering function and the perturbed matrix of the orthorhombic medium, we then derive a linearized PP-wave reflection coefficient of effective orthorhombic medium in terms of compressional-wave (P-wave) and shear-wave (S-wave) moduli, density, and horizontal- and vertical-fracture-induced normal and tangential weaknesses. To handle the inverse problem for multiple model parameters in an orthorhombic medium, we reexpress the linearized PP-wave reflection coefficient as a Fourier series. According to the sensitivity analysis of Fourier coefficients (FCs) to isotropic background elastic parameters and four fracture weaknesses, we finally establish a three-step inversion approach to describe the orthorhombic model, which involves (1) estimation of the FCs at different incidence angles from observed azimuthal seismic data and determination of the symmetry axis azimuth, (2) an iterative Bayesian inversion for isotropic background elastic parameters and fracture weaknesses of horizontal fractures from the zeroth-order FC, and (3) an iterative Bayesian inversion for fracture weaknesses of vertical fractures from the second-order FC. The proposed approach is validated by tests on synthetic and field data sets, which demonstrates that the inversion results of P- and S-wave moduli, density, and four fracture weaknesses are robust and reasonable for gas-bearing fractured reservoir characterization with orthorhombic symmetry.


Geofluids ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Xinpeng Pan ◽  
Lin Li ◽  
Guangzhi Zhang ◽  
Yian Cui

The rock containing a set of tilted fractures is equivalent to a transversely isotropic (TTI) medium with a tilted axis of symmetry. To implement fluid identification and tilted fracture detection, we propose an inversion approach of utilizing seismic data to simultaneously estimate parameters that are sensitive to fluids and tilted fractures. We first derive a PP-wave reflection coefficient and elastic impedance (EI) in terms of the dip angle, fluid/porosity term, shear modulus, density, and fracture weaknesses, and we present numerical examples to demonstrate how the PP-wave reflection coefficient and EI vary with the dip angle. Based on the information of dip angle of fractures provided by geologic and well data, we propose a two-step inversion approach of utilizing azimuthal seismic data to estimate unknown parameters involving the fluid/porosity term and fracture weaknesses: (1) the constrained sparse spike inversion (CSSI) for azimuthally anisotropic EI data and (2) the estimation of unknown parameters with the low-frequency constrained regularization term. Synthetic and real data demonstrate that fluid and fracture parameters are reasonably estimated, which may help fluid identification and fracture characterization.


Geophysics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 2129-2141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Václav Vavryuk ◽  
Ivan Peník

Approximate PP-wave reflection coefficients for weak contrast interfaces separating elastic, weakly transversely isotropic media have been derived recently by several authors. Application of these coefficients is limited because the axis of symmetry of transversely isotropic media must be either perpendicular or parallel to the reflector. In this paper, we remove this limitation by deriving a formula for the PP-wave reflection coefficient for weak contrast interfaces separating two weakly but arbitrarily anisotropic media. The formula is obtained by applying the first‐order perturbation theory. The approximate coefficient consists of a sum of the PP-wave reflection coefficient for a weak contrast interface separating two background isotropic half‐spaces and a perturbation attributable to the deviation of anisotropic half‐spaces from their isotropic backgrounds. The coefficient depends linearly on differences of weak anisotropy parameters across the interface. This simplifies studies of sensitivity of such coefficients to the parameters of the surrounding structure, which represent a basic part of the amplitude‐versus‐offset (AVO) or amplitude‐versus‐azimuth (AVA) analysis. The reflection coefficient is reciprocal. In the same way, the formula for the PP-wave transmission coefficient can be derived. The generalization of the procedure presented for the derivation of coefficients of converted waves is also possible although slightly more complicated. Dependence of the reflection coefficient on the angle of incidence is expressed in terms of three factors, as in isotropic media. The first factor alone describes normal incidence reflection. The second yields the low‐order angular variations. All three factors describe the coefficient in the whole region, in which the approximate formula is valid. In symmetry planes of weakly anisotropic media of higher symmetry, the approximate formula reduces to the formulas presented by other authors. The accuracy of the approximate formula for the PP reflection coefficient is illustrated on the model with an interface separating an isotropic half‐space from a half‐space filled by a transversely isotropic material with a horizontal axis of symmetry. The results show a very good fit with results of the exact formula, even in cases of strong anisotropy and strong velocity contrast.


Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. N31-N39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Yang ◽  
Yun Wang ◽  
Yanghua Wang

The study of thin-bed seismic response is an important part in lithologic and methane reservoir modeling, critical for predicting their physical attributes and/or elastic parameters. The complex propagator matrix for the exact reflections and transmissions of thin beds limits their application in thin-bed inversion. Therefore, approximation formulas with a high accuracy and a relatively simple form are needed for thin-bed seismic analysis and inversion. We have derived thin-bed reflection and transmission coefficients, defined in terms of displacements, and approximated them to be in a quasi-Zoeppritz matrix form under the assumption that the middle layer has a very thin thickness. We have verified the approximation accuracy through numerical calculation and concluded that the errors in PP-wave reflection coefficients [Formula: see text] are generally smaller than 10% when the thin-bed thicknesses are smaller than one-eighth of the PP-wavelength. The PS-wave reflection coefficients [Formula: see text] have lower approximation accuracy than [Formula: see text] for the same ratios of thicknesses to their respective wavelengths, and the [Formula: see text] approximation is not acceptable for incident angles approaching the critical angles (when they exist) except in the case of extremely strong impedance difference. Errors in phase for the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] approximation are less than 10% for the cases of thicknesses less than one-tenth of the wavelengths. As expected, a thinner middle layer and a weaker impedance difference would result in higher approximation accuracy.


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